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News Highlights

Health Official Can't Guarantee Openness in Talks
[New York Times, February 3, 2010]

2007 federal probe of Toyota complaints resolved nothing
[Washington Post, February 4, 2010]

Patriot Act - Eight Years Later
[truthout, February 6, 2010]

Pentagon's Black Budget Tops $56 Billion
[Wired: Danger Room, February 2, 2010]

Italy's secret service knew of CIA rendition: judge
[Reuters, February 1, 2010]

Rendition victim appeals to US Supreme Court
[AFP via Google News, February 1, 2010]

Obama's transparency record appears cloudy
[Los Angeles Times, February 1, 2010]

The Case of the Missing Jobs Revisited
[States for a Transparent and Accountable Recovery (STAR) Coalition Blog, February 1, 2010]

New Teams Connect Dots of Terror Plots
[New York Times, January 29, 2010]

Courts, Congress Shun Addressing Legality of Warrantless Eavesdropping
[Wired: Threat Level, January 29, 2010]

DOJ, Defense Lawyers Want Court Papers Sealed in Blackwater Case
[BLT: Blog of the Legal Times, 1.29.10]

Congress must revamp campaign finance online reporting, watchdog says
[Federal Computer Week, 1.29.10]

Obama Speaks Transparency, Practices Subterfuge
[Wired: Threat Level, January 28, 2010]

More News...

Of Interest

NEWS: U.S. Scientists Given Access to Cloud Computing
[New York Times, 2.5.10]

NEWS: Seeing double with stimulus job numbers
[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2.5.10]

NEWS: NARA on Flickr
[Free Government Information, 2.4.10]

Groups Offer Feedback on High Value Data Sets
[POGO Blog, February 4, 2010]

NEWS: What's Next for Swiss Bank Secrecy?
[New York Times: Dealbook, 2.3.10]

REPORT: Better Use of Terrorist Watchlist Information
[Government Accountability Office, 1.27.10]

RESOURCE: Data.gov: 100s of New Fed Datasets Released, Many Environmental
[SEJ: WatchDog TipSheet, 1.27.10]

NEWS: $50 Million Budget for Integrated E-Gov
[NextGov: TechInsider, 2.2.10]

NEWS: Classified Outreach to Muslim Women
[Secrecy News, 2.2.10]

NEWS: Pentagon mentor programs to see 'dramatic changes'
[USA Today, 2.2.10]

NEWS: Can You Trust Census Data?
[New York Times: Freakonomics Blog, 2.2.10]

NEWS: New Batch of White House Visitor Logs Released
[Sunlight Foundation Blog, 2.2.10]

More Of Interest...

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Let's Reverse the Pattern of Secrecy

Concerned that our government keeps from the American public information that we need to make our families safe, secure our country and strengthen democracy, a broad-based set of organizations formed OpenTheGovernment.org. We hope you'll help.

Watch here for our 2009 Year End Report

Watch for our 2010- 2012 Strategic Plan


Mark Your Calendar: OpenTheGovernment.org's 5th Annual Sunshine Week Webcast Set for March 19

On Friday, March 19 from noon - 2 (EDT), our fifth annual Sunshine Week event is scheduled to be held at and webcast from the Center for American Progress. Confirmed panelists include Norm Eisen, Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform, and Miriam Nisbet, the new Director of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS). Learn more about the event here.

Interested in holding a local event? Get a group together to watch the webcast, and then host a discussion on government transparency at the federal, state, and local level. Download our registration form to make sure your questions are asked of our panelists and to list your event. Once you are registered, we will send you useful materials to arrange and publicize your event.


Tracking The Open Government Directive

The Open Government Directive requirements include a mandate to agencies to post three new "high value data sets" by January 22. According to Administration officials, these first three datasets are just a "down payment," or a minimum; agencies are expected to continue to make new datasets available to the public via Data.gov.

On February 3, OpenTheGoverment.org and six of our partners sent a letter to Federal Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra, laying out some concerns with the datasets submitted by agencies to fulfill the January 22nd deadline, and offering constructive suggestions for improving their usefulness.

To help judge if agencies are meeting those expectations, and posting data that is of value to the public, OpenTheGovernment.org is collecting data on agency participation to monitor the number of raw datasets and tools agencies are adding, and the use of these resources by the public.

Already this data has shown that data has been removed without an explanation on the site. Compare the data for yourself here, and look for our analysis in the near future.

OpenTheGovernment.org is also working to increase FOIA accountability via the Open Government Dashboard.

The White House released the Open Government Directive on December 8. Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org, welcomed the announcement, saying, "the Open Government Directive, when fully implemented, will take the federal government many steps toward real openness. Far from representing the end of the process, today's announcement is the beginning of an on-going effort to build transparency and accountability into the way government operates."

Read the full statement here.


Executive Order on Classified National Security Information Released

On December 29th the White House released the Executive Order on Classified National Security Information. Find analysis and reaction to the revised EO from OpenTheGovernment.org and some of our coalition partners here.


Policy and News Updates for January 26, 2010

  • News from Coalition Partners & Others
  • First OGD Milestone Passed, Mileage Counter Set
  • OpenTheGovernment.org Joins Effort to Protect Healthcare Whistleblowers

Follow OpenTheGovernment.org's Latest Efforts to Make the Federal Government More Open

As part of the effort to make the federal government a more open place, OpenTheGovernment.org works with our coalition partners and other advocates to highlight important issues and correct systemic problems. Keep up with our latest:


2009 Secrecy Report Card

On Tuesday, September 9, OpenTheGovernment.org released the 2009 Secrecy Report Card. This years report chronicles slight decreases in secrecy across a wide spectrum of indicators in the last year of the Bush-Cheney Administration, after five years of continued expansion. For this year only, the report includes two special sections: one on fiscal transparency and one providing a quick look at the Obama Administration's openness promising policies and, in some instances, discouraging practice.

Read the press release here. Also, download the FOIA Risk Assessment Chart, an assessment of changes in FOIA practices by the Bush and Obama Administrations, and the expanded fiscal transparency section.


Government Secrecy: Decisions Without Democracy Available for Purchase

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OpenTheGovernment.org Analysis of Congressional Initiatives to Improve Information Sharing and Reduce Unnecessary Over-classification